Posted: April 5th, 2009
Contributed By: Nick

	Purchase @ Amazon.com Release Date: March 31st, 2009 via Dirty Mag Records
	Leslie is: Sandler Vaden (Vocals / Guitar) Jason Fox (Bass) Jonathan Carman (Drums)

Overview: Charleston, South Carolina’s Leslie have managed to keep their cool in the wake of turbulent events. Just a few short years ago, band front-man Sadler Vaden tragically lost his mother and Leslie’s number one fan Scarlet Vaden to breast cancer. But Vaden and his fellow band-mates Jason Fox and Jonathan Carman refused to be swallowed up by grief, realizing Mrs. Vaden would have wanted nothing more than for Leslie to keep on truckin’. And so the trio uprooted themselves from Charleston and moseyed up to Memphis, TN where producer Paul Ebersold (Saliva, 3 Doors Down) awaited their arrival. Leslie and Ebersold got down to business on some new tuneage, carefully piecing together each new song with care. Four finalized tracks later and Leslie are sitting pretty on a brand new EP called ‘The Rebel Souls‘.

The Good: Leslie bare their rebel souls on this four song brouhaha, kicking things off with the constant eruption of confidence beaming from “No More Tears”. This frisky leadoff guy is galvanized by empowering, look-toward-the-future lyrics, wrapped around a throwback sound that actually, and genuinely, throws you back a couple eras. Free spirited “Freak Flag” is a sporty, rollicking romp that’s a bit bubbly, slightly swingy, almost anthemic, and incredibly inviting. “Devil Ain’t Ready” singes your senses, shakin’, rattlin’ and rollin’ from top to bottom with saucy lyrics and a bluesy zest that will make Brother Cane fans shit their britches; to best enjoy “Devil Ain’t Ready”, throw on your tie-dye shirt, get comfy in your Volkswagen van, and fire up a fattie…. The Leslie boys become men on the mature and organic “End of the Road”, a rustic number that knocks on the country-western door without knocking it down. “End of the Road” is crafty and cunning the way it slithers poised through constant yet flavorful pattern shifts. On “End of the Road”, ya got a little bit of 90’s Bon Jovi, a little bit of 90’s Buckcherry, but a whole truckload of 70’s flair and nostalgia.

The Bad: “Freak Flag” should have been laid down a tad faster, as a spike in its BPM’s would remedy the song’s at-times borderline sluggish pace. None of the four residents of ‘The Rebel Souls‘ stands out from the other, however “Devil Ain’t Ready” is certainly my pick to click. Leslie blows some mighty gusts throughout ‘The Rebel Souls‘, but this rock ‘n roll gale is much briefer than it should have been, cutting short Leslie’s clearly awesome momentum.

Bottomline: Leslie should be proud of their work on ‘The Rebel Souls‘ because these four cuts are just solid slabs of rock from yesterday in modern day. With the revival of rock music two decades plus old nearing its saturation point, it’s becoming tougher and tougher to find songs from bands of this flux that actually do something, anything. Psst…Leslie’s got four of ‘em…

TuneLab Rating: 8 out of 10